U.S. hospital provided liver transplants to 4 Japanese gang figures, including gang boss

Saturday 31st May, 08:56 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Latest 15 of 22 Total Comments Show All

pathat at 10:28 AM JST - 31st May

It could not be determined how much UCLA and Busuttil were paid for the Japanese transplants, the Times reported.

Of course not.
Crucades at 11:03 AM JST - 31st May

The FBI being clowns isnt news, however this is just a highlight of the immoral US health care system where money buys life and nothing else is a consideration. Disgusting.
Youdontknow at 12:41 PM JST - 31st May

Gangster scum deserver nothing. The only transplant they deserve is from society into a nice little cell.
smithinjapan at 12:55 PM JST - 31st May

rjd_jr: "But sorry no one here can blame the Japanese people in general for this."

No one did, or has. Can we blame the Japanese government? In part we can, definitely.
super delegate at 01:03 PM JST - 31st May

Lots of foreigners avail themselves of the world's best health care, found in America. Canadians are the most common. You always see them (actually, you hear them first) in hospitals and specialists' clinics on the West Coast. No one asks if they have criminal backgrounds, though it is safe to assume many do, when you consider that cannabis is now the number one cash crop in BC.
rjd_jr at 01:42 PM JST - 31st May

So, exactly how can the Japanese government be partly blamed for this fiasco smithinjapan? The article clearly states that it was with the assistance of the FBI, not the J government, that these thugs were able to get a visa for the U.S. Nowhere in the article does it state that the J government assisted in any way these guys' ability to get the organ transplant. So, anything else is pure speculation. Period.
Himajin at 01:55 PM JST - 31st May

'several hundred local residents died waiting'??? Several hundred who were matches to those four livers, or just several hundred people? It lends an air of indignance to the article but it's hardly accurate. Even if the four livers had gone to locals, several hundred people still would have died.
nutsagain at 03:38 PM JST - 31st May

There's no doubt in my mind that Bussutil knew exactly what he was doing. That he was also wined, dined, given heaps of cash with all expenses paid jaunts to Japan to see his client, er, patient. In the meantime, deserving people must have died. I say get this guy and publicly pillory the swine. Do read this link... http://www.asianoffbeat.com/default.asp?display=1769
capone at 03:54 PM JST - 31st May

good job FBI...completely played for supreme suckers by this poor excuse for a human being
European1 at 05:41 PM JST - 31st May

"U.S. transplant rules do not prohibit hospitals from performing transplants on foreign patients or those with criminal histories."

Of course not, you pay amount they ask for and you get it.
GW at 06:36 PM JST - 31st May

rjd jr

question for ya, who issues JAPANESE PASSPORTS? If you can answer that question then you know ___________(fill in blank) aids these very well known mobsters in international travel thus playing a part in all this crap!
nutsagain at 06:46 PM JST - 31st May

The facts: 186 people on the waiting list in the LA area died while these pieces of dog crap picked up new livers to the tune of: $520,000 each. Plus the airfares for the surgeon to Japan and the wining and dining and wads of cash. Strip this menace of his medical license... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla30-2008may30,0,2450157,full.story
NeoJamal at 09:08 PM JST - 31st May

rjd jr question for ya, who issues JAPANESE PASSPORTS? If you can answer that question then you know ___________(fill in blank) aids these very well known mobsters in international travel thus playing a part in all this crap!

rjd_jr: "But sorry no one here can blame the Japanese people in general for this." No one did, or has. Can we blame the Japanese government? In part we can, definitely.

Let me butt in, is to grant a convicted criminal the ability to exit the country a negligent act on part of any official? unless such act is contrary to the principles of customary international law or treaty, there is no case to condemn the act of giving any man whether s/he be free of conviction or not, the freedom to travel abroad. It is for the nation that felon purports to enter to assume the risk of granting entry to such persons. It is the duty of the immigration officials to check whether each persons entering the US has a conviction that would warrant the denial of entry. There is nothing in the facts to suggest that the Japanese officials were negligent in not disclosing their previous convictions. Yet these gang figures entered the US, which implies it was the US immigration officials that were negligent to follow up on readily available information on convictions.
Bizarro at 11:12 PM JST - 31st May

FYI there was a related article in the May 11 Washington Post by a former Yomiuri Shimbun reporter who for years covered organized crime in Japan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902544.html

The article explains the activities of yakuza in the US that were of legitimate interest to the FBI. It also claims the Japanese national police share nearly no information on the yakuza with US law enforcement.
romulus3 at 10:33 PM JST - 1st June

I do not believe this article for one reason. High ranking gangsters can get any passport they want. No need to travel as them self. this is absolute garbage journalism. These gangsters traveled to the US under the guise of wealthy businessmen and paid a few extra dollars to get a kidney instead of some impoverished US citizens people who were waiting.